Okay, again, a day late. I was busy last night! I finished canning the last of the tomatoes, cleaned the kitchen, did laundry, and made dinner. I know you will all be amazed by this, but the kitchen looks like it needs to be cleaned again (!!!) and the laundry has miraculously doubled overnight. Amazing how that happens!

Also, I am down one kid who helps me around the house a lot! Paige broke her humerus bone on Oct. 6 and was in a sling for a week. That was not so bad, but we saw a different doctor last Friday and he put her in a shoulder immobilizer for 10 days. For the record, she really disliked the sling, but absolutely hates the immobilizer! We go back next Monday to see what the next course of action is. In the meanwhile, I am out of a helper and we are all picking up the slack on her chores. She does what she can because she is amazingly adept at using one hand for things!

How did we do on the frugal lifestyle this week? Here we go!

1. We took drinks to the ball games and on our trip to the doctor (1.2 hours away). We also took our breakfast with us to the doctor so we did not need to stop or spend more money.

2. I canned six quarts of vegetable soup and 6 quarts of whole tomatoes to add to the pantry. I am still using the tomatoes I got free from a friend.

3. We majorly cut down on trips to anywhere to save on gas. One trip I would have liked to go on anyway to see family, but the kids’ activities dictated otherwise.

4. I only ate out once on the way from Rob’s because of the timing of the trip. That cost $7.00.

5. Rob and I had a date night in with friends playing games, snacking, and talking instead of going out. That saved both of us mucho amounts of moola!

6. I made my own laundry detergent this week before the other bucket ran out. Now, if I was on the ball, I would get the bucket that ran out made and filled. Hmmm….

7. I sold a few items for spending cash. I didn’t want to take away from my budget this month. Especially the middle of the month when bills are plenty and money is not! The items I sold were just clutter anyway so this worked out great!

8. We carpooled to an away ball game. This is a great idea to save on gas and have great conversations with good friends! As long as everyone takes their turn driving, this makes for a great time!

9. I used a $10 Kohls cash that I had online for a Christmas gift for one of the kids. It covered the gift, taxes, and shipping! Woohoo!

10. I made a big batch of pancakes one night for supper. The leftovers were eaten for breakfast for the next few days.

I kept up the spending freeze last week. I actually did really well until Sunday night. I had to buy more quart-size canning jars and regular lids since I ran out. I also bought some of the canning supplies that were half-off at Lowe’s. I used cash at Lowe’s that I had on hand. The canning jars and lids I had to buy at Wal-mart and used $15 in gift cards and spent $24 of my own money.

In addition, I bought more shampoo/conditioner and hairspray for the girls at Wal-mart. The neat thing about the girls’ toiletries is that I swear they are starting to use cheaper stuff. V05 shampoo and conditioner runs about 78-99 cents a bottle and they started using Rave hairspray which is $1.99 for a huge can. I am kinda proud of my kids!

How did your last week go? I feel as though I could do better, but every little bit helps!

Thanks for reading! Have a great day!

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